Tibetan and Himalayan Library - THL

History

One of Padmasambhava’s caves at NenangGnas nang.

NenangGnas nang is, as we have mentioned, a site associated with Padmasambhava. Two large
caves found near the
main hermitage buildings are
said to be meditation caves
of this important ninth century Indian master, one of the legendary founders of
Buddhism in Tibet. Of course, many hundreds (if
not thousands) of caves throughout Tibet are
associated with Padmasambhava, and we have no way of determining the accuracy of
the claim that Padmasambhava (if he was a historical figure at all) lived in
the caves at NenangGnas nang. However, there is a strong oral tradition
that maintains that this was a site at which Padmasambhava did a three-year, three-month
retreat.

An informant, a former monk of Khardo Hermitage (Khardo RitröMkhar rdo ri khrod), tells us that NenangGnas nang was founded as a nunnery
by a certain Jetsün (or Khachö)
Dröldor Wangmo (Jetsün Namkhachö Dröldor WangmoRje btsun nam mkha’ spyod sgrol rdor dbang mo), a nun who was considered to be a ḍākinī. During her lifetime, and during
that of her next incarnation, the nunnery flourished, but then there were no
further incarnations. The nunnery went into a period of decline, and it was at
this time that the institution sought to affiliate with Khardo
Hermitage.

NenangGnas nang was a site used as a retreat place by the third Khardo incarnation Rikdzin
Chökyi Dorjé (Khardo Kutreng Sumpa Rikdzin Chökyi DorjéMkhar rdo sku phreng gsum pa rigs ’dzin chos kyi rdo rje). It is the place where he is said to
have “practiced the special treasure teachings of Khardo.”1 That same master is credited with
later (re)founding a nunnery at the site (see Negodong
Nunnery). The site has been under the control of the Khardo Lama’s estate (Khardo LabrangMkhar rdo bla brang) since this time.

Living so far from the village, the nuns, it is said, feared for their safety,
and generally experienced great hardship. According to one oral account, a group
of brigands actually attacked the nunnery, looting it, and raping several of the
nuns. As a result, the nuns asked to move closer to KhardoMkhar rdo, and so
the monks then living at NegodongGnas sgo gdong traded places with the
nuns: NegodongGnas sgo gdong became a nunnery, and the more remote
NenangGnas nang became a monastery for male monks. In another version
of the story, the exchange of the two institutions was ordered by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama
(Dalai Lama Kutreng ChuksumpaDa lai bla ma sku phreng bcu gsum pa). In any case, this occurred
sometime around 1930. From the 1930s up to 1959, therefore, NenangGnas nang was a monks’ hermitage.

A nun meditator currently living at NenangGnas nang.

The site was forcibly closed sometime between 1959 and the beginning of the
Cultural Revolution, and the buildings began
to deteriorate. No one has formally taken on the responsibility of rebuilding
NenangGnas nang. However, sometime in the last decade several NyingmapaRnying ma pa nuns and one elderly man (the father of one of the nuns) have
fashioned makeshift huts out of the ruins of NenangGnas nang’s former
buildings. These hermits all hail from KhamKhams, Eastern Tibet.